Sheet feeding machines



Oct. 31, 1961 H. T. BACKHOUSE SHEET FEEDING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 9, 1959 United States Patent 3,006,637 SHEET FEEDING MACHINES Headley Townsend Backhouse, Les Rayons (V and), Corsy-Conversion, Switzerland Filed Dec. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 858,425 Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 17, 1958 3 Claims. (Cl. 271-60) ing or other machine operating on individual sheets. Side registration of the sheets may also be eifected while on the feed table.

The invention provides a sheet feeding machine of the kind described above having a smoother blade associated with the front lay, or at least one of the front lays, arranged to lie over the front of a sheet which is at the front lay and means for moving the blade forwardly relative to the lay face and also downwardly, after registration of a sheet, to permit removal of the sheet.

The invention further provides a sheet feeding machine of the kind described embodying front lay mechanism comprising a front lay supported for up and down movements between a raised operative position in which it projects above the feed table for engagement by an oncoming sheet and a lowered inoperative position in which it lies clear of the removal path of the front edge of the sheet and having a smoother blade projecting rearwardly from the lay over the top of the table for the purpose of holding down the front edge of a sheet at or immediately before the front lay characterized in that the smoother blade is carried by (or integral with) an upwardly extending arm of a bell-crank lever which lever has its fulcrum on a part attached to the lay for up and down movement therewith and its other arm extending rearwardly into co-operative engagement with a fixed member to preclude or limit up and down rocking movement of this arm whereby as the lay is moved up and down the bell-crank lever is rocked to move the smoother blade forwardly clear of the lay face as the lay is moved downwardly to its inoperative position and rearwardly to its position over the top of the table as the lay is raised to its operative position.

Preferably the height of the smoother blade above the table is adjustable or the blade may slope upwardly and rearwardly at a small adjustable angle relative to the table in each case in order that the blade may be adjusted to suit sheets of different thickness or materials. In one construction these two adjustments are combined. Thus in a preferred arrangement the smoother blade is carried by its front end at the upper end of an upright limb which is pivotally or resiliently attached at its lower end to the upwardly extending arm aforesaid of the bell-crank lever and means are provided for pivotally moving, as an adjustment, the limb about its attachment, in the fore and aftdirection.

The present invention may, conveniently, be embodied in the machine dmcribed and illustrated in my patent specification Serial Number 746,136, now US. Patent No. 2,950,916, and a specific construction of such an embodiment and a modified form thereof will now be described, by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of one section of a feed table,

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the section shown in FIG- URE 1,

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FIGURE 3 is a view, corresponding to FIGURE 1 but showing the parts lowered to the position they adopt to allow for removal of a sheet,

FIGURE 4 is a side view, corresponding to FIGURE 1, showing part of a modified construction,

FIGURE 5 is an end view of the construction shown in FIGURE 4, and

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of part of the construction shown in FIGURES 4 and 5.

In the example the feed table is of the sectional con-. struction described in patent specification No. 746,136. Several of the sections embody front lays and only one will be described. This section, 10, has front lays 11 carried on a lever'12 which is rocked by a cam-operated second lever 13, all substantially as described in patent specification No. 746,136. The lever 13 is rocked by a rotatable camshaft 15. In addition there is a no-sheet detector finger 17 also substantially in accordance with that specification.

Depending from the front lays there is a two-part boss 18 carrying a horizontal transverse pivot pin 20 of which the axis is below the lay face 21 in the plane thereof. This pin carries a bell-crank lever of which one arm 22 extends upwardly on the side of the lays remote from the feed table and the other arm 23 extends rearwardly beneath the table. The arm 23 is forked and engages, within the fork, a pin 25 which is fixed to a forward extension 26 of the main casting of the section. Accordingly as the front lays 11 are lowered by movement of lever 12 the bell-crank lever 22, 23 is rocked about its pivot pin 20 in the direction to move the upward arm 22 away from the lays in the forwarding direction (see FIGURE 3).

The upwardly extending arm 22 carries an angle member 30, 31 of resilient sheet material. One limb, 30, of this member extends upwardly on the side of the arm 22 remote from the lays 11 and is fixed by its lower end 33 to the arm, the remainder of the limb having a set tending to move it away from the arm. The limb 31 of the angle member is divided into three prongs which project rearwardly through the lays to overlie the front of the feed table and serve as a smoother blade for the sheets at the front lays. There is a screwed stud 36 on the upwardly extending arm 22 aforesaid which passes through a hole in the said upward limb 30 and carries a nut 37 by which the limb may be adjusted against its set, toward and away from the arm. This adjustment has the efiect of lowering and raising the smoother blade relative to the feed table and also changes slightly the angle which the blade makes to the surface of the table.

In use, when the lays are in their raised, operative, position (FIGURE 1) the blade extends rearwardly over and slightly above, the feed table. When the lays are lowered, the blade is swung in the forwarding direction and downwardly until its rear edge is beyond the lays and below the path of the sheet during removal.

If desired the pin 25 may be adjustable toward and away from the pin 20, to vary the degree of movement of the blade.

FIGURES 46 show a modified form of the above construction. In this form the smoother blade 40 is carried on a block 41 which is adjustably supported on the arm 22a for up and down movement to vary the height of the blade above the table. The block 41 has a rib 41a which slides between prongs 42 and the block is spring-urged, by springs 45, upwardly against the head 43 of an adjusting screw 44. Various other slight modifications will be apparent from the drawings.

I claim:

1. In a sheet feeding machine of the kind having a feed table and front lay mechanism which comprises a front lay and means for moving the lay upwardly and downwardly between an upper operative position in which it projects above the feed table for engagement by a front edge of atsheet advancing over the table and a lower inoperative position in which it lies clear of the front edge of the sheet, a smoother blade projecting rearwardly from thelay when the lay-is in its operative position over the top of the table and operative to'hold down the front edge of a sheet adjacent the front lay, a bell crank lever having a fulcrum attached to the lay for up and down movement therewith, said smoother blade being carried by an arm of the bell-crank lever which extends upwardly from the fulcrum, the other arm of the lever extending rearwardly from the fulcrum and fixed means co-opcrating with the said other arm to restrict up and down movements of the free end thereof whereby as the fulcrum move down with the lay the bell-crank lever is rocked to move the smoother blade forwardly clear of the lay face and as the fulcrum moves up with the lay the bell-crank lever is rocked to move the smoother blade rearwardly to the position in which as aforesaid it projects rearwardly from the lay over the table.

2. A sheet feeding machine as claimed in claim 1 having means by which the smoother blade is attached to the bell-crank arm and which hold the blade at a small upward and rearward slope relative to the table.

3. A sheet feeding machine as claimed in claim I having means by which the smoother blade is attached to the bell-crank arm, and comprising an upright limb attached at its lower end to the upwardly extending arm aforesaid of the bell-crank lever for movement in the fore and aft directions of the upper end of the limb, relative to the arm and means for effecting such movement as an adjustment, the smoother blade being carried at its front end by the upper end of the limb.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,642,284 Backhouse June 16, 1953 2,726,865 Backhouse Dec. 13', 1955 2,741,479 Backhouse et a1 Apr. 10, 195 6 2,753,184 Backhouse July 3, 1956 

